Good health is a precious asset. Evolutions in science, production technologies, IT, life sciences, society etc. enable a smart support of health and health care. At this event, the focus will be on nanoelectronics as a powerful tool for the development of smart diagnostics, smart monitoring and active stimulation.

Speakers from industry and research institutions introduce you to the field of smart health, by sharing their experiences and inspiring innovations. They will focus on both the product and its application, and the development phase.

This is the final event arising from the GENEESS project (GEzonder door Nano-Elektronica En Slimme Specialisatie (2013-2016)) in which DSP Valley and IMEC bundled forces to support companies in developing smart health solutions by using micro and nanoelectronics.

At the same time, we proudly launch XKET4HEALTH (1). With XKET4HEALTH, DSP Valley and FlandersBio will nurture an ecosystem in which 2 key enabling technologies – micro- and nanoelectronics and life sciences – meet to develop solutions in the health domain. Both projects are supported by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Program

12.00-13.00:Registration and sandwich lunch

13.00-13.15:Opening session: GENEESS, where did it take us?Annelies Vandamme, Project Manager DSP Valley

13.15-13.45:Feed your innovation - Think outside your industry Ann Van Mele, Business Development Surgical Tools & Implants, Verhaert Masters in Innovation
The medical industry faces major challenges to develop and produce more cost effective products and to develop products with clinical added value whilst suffering from cost cuts and more stringent regulations. Innovation strategies like cost reduction and incremental feature are just not good enough to give a sustainable inflow of new successful products on the market in order to realize a differentiated offering and protect the market share. Breakthrough product innovation is needed to cope with these challenges. One very interesting method to support breakthrough innovation is “Technology transfer”. Transferring technology from one sector to the another is a proven method to chase open innovation and enable successful innovations on a system level.

13.45-14.15: The quest for comfortable implanted sensorsRobert Puers, Full Professor KU Leuven, ESAT-MICAS
Designing an implantable sensor for biological signals requires, besides miniaturization, low power consumption and ease of data collection, a careful attention to biocompatibility and biotolerance. The selected packaging strategy absolves the function of protecting the implantable sensor from the hostile body environment and from the diffusion in the implant of corrosive body fluids. We will focus on the design and the haemocompatible packaging strategy proposed for an intravascular pressure sensor and on a wireless module for cardiac wall acceleration sensing. Finally an outlook to the development of a stretchable sensor network for physiological measurements in the bladder wall will be presented. Main focus will lay on improving the acceptability of the implants and how to improve their co-existence in human tissue.

14.15 – 14.45Guide for the development of medical technologyFilip Ponsaerts , Project Manager cEDM , imec
Medical devices can not just be put in the market.The regulatory framework must be taken into account. But that is not easy when adding electronics to active devices. As a part of the project GENEESS a guide has been developed in which this issue is being dealt with. The toolkit allows starters to quickly and easily estimate their strengths and weaknesses.

14.45-15.15 Break with drinks

15.15- 15.45The pill beyond the pill: enabling connected smart pharmaceuticalsYves Decadt, CEO, Medimetrics
Digital technologies are transforming healthcare, a new phase of integration between pharmaceuticals and devices is being led by digital technologies, leading to Smart Pharmaceuticals and Connected Drug-Device Combinations (CDDCs). Pharma and device companies will benefit from it. The presentation will focus on the impact of this digital evolution in general, and how Medimetrics acts in this new field.

15.45-16.15 Your health in the blink of an eyePatrick De Boever, Project manager Connected Health, VITO
The digitization of ophthalmic images has opened up possibilities for early disease detection and reduction of preventable blindness across the globe. The presentation will highlight advances in high-end imaging techniques and introduce devices based around smartphones. Retinal image analysis as a comfortable solution for smart health monitoring will be discussed in detail.